Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Tuesday's Tasting - TJ's Shrimp Thai Red Curry Rice Bowl

I think that I'd be friends with the people Trader Joe has tasting food in his test kitchen. Seriously, this is my fourth week tasting items from Trader Joe's freezer case, and this is the fourth week that I'll put my stamp of approval on what I've eaten. Trader Joe's food tasters, I raise my glass to you. On to tonight's tasting.

Tonight's tasting features Trader Joe's Shrimp Thai Red Curry Rice Bowl. After five minute of cook time and two minutes of rest, this rice bowl was ready to eat.

The first few bites were a little light on flavor, but as I dug deeper and mixed everything up, the flavors really came together. There is a decent amount of heat from the red curry paste, and like most Thai curries, the coconut milk really balanced everything out. The shrimp were tender and the veggies still had good crunch despite being previously frozen. Even the rice was perfectly cooked, light and fluffy. While this rice bowl did not have bold flavors like the lemon grass chicken I tasted a few weeks ago, it was still very good. I'll definitely stock more of these in my freezer for nights I don't feel like cooking.